In recent years, there is an increasing demand for standardizing communication protocols and the like and decreasing prices of communication devices and the like. It has become a general trend to provide personal computers already equipped with a communication I/F (interface).
Further, it has become common practice to already equip or to be able to equip the communication I/F for not only personal computers, but also professional-use broadcast equipments such as AV (Audio Visual) servers and VTRs (Video Tape Recorders). The broadcast equipments exchange files of video data and audio data (hereafter collectively referred to as AV data) with each other.
Generally, it has been a general practice to exchange files between broadcast equipments using formats specific to models and manufacturers, for example. Exchanging files has been difficult between broadcast equipments of different models or manufacturers.
To solve this problem, for example, MXF (Material eXchange Format) is proposed as a file exchange format and is currently in the process of standardization.
MXF is a file format in consideration for streaming in addition to file exchange and multiplexes video data and audio data in fine units such as frames.
As mentioned above, MXF multiplexes video data and audio data for each frame in consideration for streaming. Accordingly, it has been difficult to incorporate an MXF file into a storage and then separately edit video data and audio data (AV independent editing).
To solve this problem, there is a method of using the broadcast equipment to incorporate an MXF file and converting it into a specifically formatted file. When the broadcast equipment converts an MXF file into a file formatted completely irrelevantly to MXF, however, it is difficult to handle that file on another broadcast equipment.
For example, let us consider that a given equipment records a specifically formatted file on a storage and another broadcast equipment accesses that file via a communication I/F such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394 or USB (Universal Serial Bus). When the other broadcast equipment cannot comprehend that specific format, this broadcast equipment cannot handle (or read, in this example) the specifically formatted file.
Further, let us consider that a given broadcast equipment records a specifically formatted file on a removable recording medium such as an optical disk. When the removable recording medium is mounted on another broadcast equipment and the other broadcast equipment cannot comprehend that specific format, this broadcast equipment cannot handle the specifically formatted file.
When an attempt is made to record a specifically formatted file on a recording medium, the formatting system may be incompatible with the recording medium. To read or write such file on the recording medium, there may be a need for reading or writing data larger than the file to be read or written, for example.